Angel walked into the auction and wished that Cordelia had never had that vision. He looked down at his number and wondered why he had ever bothered to get it. He HATED these auctions.

Looking up at the stage, he vaguely heard the auctioneer shouting out things about the vampire slave next to him. The vamp had a leather collar around his neck and a long golden leash branching out from it to a man behind him. He was standing with his head hung an his hands behind his back, as if there was no way he had the strength to break away from the mear human holding his leash.

Angel snarled. They may have been evil, but even evil didn't deserve this. This was higher then evil. This was just...wrong.

Angel turned away to find the leader of the vampire slave auction. Cordelia had said something about him having to kill the vamp, but also something about needing to find someone at the auction. Another person needing help. Angel glanced around. Yeah, every single vampire here that was up on stage or about to be dragged out needed help. But Angel knew she had meant someone in specific.

Weaving around the chairs and into a back room, Angel sniffed once and pulled back a curtain.

"Let me guess, you've come to kill me?" The vampire said without turning away from the game of solitare laid out in front of him.

"Something like that," Angel said, fingering the stake in his pocket.

"What is it with you do gooders? All want to kill me, just because I believe in the ancient ways." The vampire stood up and turned around, shaking his head. "It's rather sad."

The vampire looked Angel over and a sly grin crossed his face. "Ah, I believe you'll be interested in lot 24. VERY interested."

Angel frowned. He heard that same number being called out and couldn't stop himself from back tracking.

His jaw hit the floor when he saw who was being lead onto stage.

"Spike!" He gasped before he could stop himself.

He waited for the blonde vampire to start fighting, to curse, to do something Spikeish, but he did nothing. He too had on a leather collar, and his leash was also made of leather. He, like the others, stood with his head hung and his hands behind his back.

"This is a good one, folks," The man shouted. "He's a hard worker, and an exellent fighter. Also a very willing partner if you gather my meaning." He grinned at the crowd. "Not a trace of rebellion in this one. Lets start the bidding at 3 thousand. Do I hear three?"

Angel raised his number without even thinking.

"Ah, 3. Do I hear 4?"

Some other vamp lifted his number.

"4. Do I hear 5?"

Angel lifted his number again.

"5. Do I hear 6?"

"TEN!" Angel yelled.

Angel saw Spike lift his head and grin slightly. So there was still a little Spike in there.

"Ten!" The man said in delight. "Do I hear 11?"

The man holding Spike's leash jerked and Spike droppd his head again. Angel snarled. Another vamp lifted his number.

"15!" Angel yelled.

"Sold!" The man yelled.

Spike was led off to the back. Angel ran back as well.

"Here you..." The man started, holding out the leash.

"Get that thing off of him," Angel snarled.

"Alright," The man took of the collar, looking puzzled. Spike lifted his head again. Angel looked into those blue eyes and saw that Spike didn't recognize him.

A small, shy smile split Spike's lips.

"Come on now, Spike, don't be shy," The man said, gesturing to Angel. "Say hello to your new master."

"Hello," Spike said softly.

Angel realized that he couldn't just let Spike go in this condition, so he played the kind master. "Hi Spike. I'm Angel."

Spike kept smiling but didn't say anything.

"This one's had nothing but bad masters since they took his memory away," The man told him. "He's been wanting a nice one."

"Took his memory away? How?"

"I don't know, but apparently the affects will only wear off if he's helped to remember." The man shrugged.

Angel nodded. "Alright. Come on, Spike." To the man he said "I'll get you the money in a little bit."

Angel turned and didn't have to look back to know Spike was following him. He heard murmurs as he passed, people wondering why he didn't have Spike's collar.

He suddenly felt Spike walk up so he was walking just behind Angel. "I-if you don't mind my asking, where are we going?"

Angel turned. "Why would I mind you asking me a question?"

Spike shrugged one shoulder. "My other Masters did. They hated it. They'd punish me if I did, but you...you seemed different."

"You can ask me anything you want, Spike," Angel said. "And we're going to my home. There are a couple other people there, Cordelia and Wesley."

"Are they slaves too?" Spike asked curiously.

"No. They're my friends. They can be your friends to if you want."

Spike smiled. "I've never had a friend before." then he paused, frowning. "At least, I don't think I have."

Angel smiled. "You have. What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember waking up in the back of my first slave auction. I wanted to fight," Spike frowned. "I wanted to kill. But if I tried to attack humans, it hurt. Then they started teaching me who I was and what I was supposed to do."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two years ago," Spike answered. "I've had four other masters since."

"How was your last one?"

"Unkind," Spike said. "And cruel. He had two other slaves as well."

"Spike, did any of these masters make you...sleep with them?" Angel asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Yes," Spike answered. "All of them. Or do you mean did they make me have sex with them?"

Angel winced at how causual Spike sounded. "Yes."

"Two of them did." Spike nodded. "Do you want me to sleep with you?"

"Do you want to?" Angel asked.

At that a puzzled look crossed Spike's face. "Do...do I want to? That doesn't matter."

Angel sighed.

This was going to take a lot of work.

--

"Hey Angel, did you...bring Spike back to kill us," Cordelia said when she saw Spike. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I found him at the slave auction. He's been trained as a slave, Cordy. He can't remember who he is."

"A slave? Whatever. Hey, Spike, if I told you to make me coffee what would you do?"

"Go make it," Spike said as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. "If Master confirmed it, that is."

Cordelia started to laugh. Angel glared at her.

"shut it, Cor," Angel said. "It's not his fault."

"I know, but it's so funny! Angel, can I make him make me coffee? Please?"

"No," Angel walked off. "Come on, Spike. Ignore her."

"Yes Master."

Angel winced at the name. He ran upstairs and walked to his room. "This is my room. The one right there is yours."

Spike's eyes filled with panic, though he said nothing, only hung his head and nodded.

"Spike? What's wrong?"

"I-I-I don't sleep in your room?" Spike asked nervously.

Angel sighed, realizing that because his other masters had him sleep in their rooms, Spike had grown used to being always with someone.
"You can if you want to."

Again Spike frowned. "But it doesn't matter what I want."

Angel wanted to scream as Spike said it. The old Spike would have probably just said 'yeah, okay, sure.' and that would have been that. This Spike didn't understand. He thought it only mattered what his Master wanted.

"Alright, you'll sleep in my room," Angel said with a sigh. "But you can have that other room anyway, in case you want to be alone or in case when I'm gone and Cordy tries to make you do something you can go in there and hide."

"I won't go with you?"

"Well, I have to go save people. From other demons and things. It's what I do."

Spike smiled at that. "I'm a good fighter. I could help you."

Angel paused. "Well, sometimes. But not others. Sometimes I have to work alone, or I'd be worried."

"Worried about what?"

"About you. You might get hurt."

Spike's eyes widened. "You'd be worried about me?" He said in a shy, pleased voice. "Why? You could get another slave if I were killed."

"No, see...it's different. I can't explain it to you right now, but I would be worried about you, okay?"

"Okay," Spike smiled.

Angel smiled back. "Okay. Now, why don't you go...do whatever you do for fun. Or go explore your room or something. I have to go talk to my employees."

Spike frowned, but nodded. "Alright, Master. Is there anything I can't touch?"

Angel shook his head, then ran downstairs.

Cordelia was talking to Wesley about what had happened to Spike. Wesley looked sympathetic rather then amused. He looked up as Angel walked downstairs.

"Is Cordelia telling me the truth or is she trying to be funny?" Wesley asked.

"The truth. He's upstairs right now," Angel told them.

"Really? I have read of William the Bloody before, but never actually met him."

"Yeah, well, you're going tomeet the subdued slave version of him, not the real one. Look, I don't want either of you trying to order him around or anything. I want as much help as possible bringing him back. Treat him like an equal. He's gonna get confused when you do, but keep doing it anyway, no matter how he reacts."

Wesley nodded. "Alright. I'll tell Gunn about it when I see him next."

"Great. Cordy?"

Cordelia sighed. "Yeah, yeah, alright."

"Alright. Now, does anyone know where I can get 15 thousand dollars?"

Cordelia blinked. "Why?"

"Becuase that's how much I payed for Spike."

Upstairs, Spike heard a screetch. He peered over the railing, but didn't see anything, and Master had told him to just wander around, so he didn't go downstairs.

He walked into the room Master had said was his. He looked around, then started going through drawers. In his other homes he had never been allowed to do this, but he'd always wanted to, for some reason. Finding nothing of interest in the dresser, he explored the closet. He grinned when he found a bunch of shirts his size. He pulled his grey sweater off and slid on the green silk shirt. He buttoned it up only half way, then dug around for pants. He found a pair of leather ones and his grin widened. He quickly changed into those from his blue jeans, then wished he had a mirror like the one in his first Masters home.

Digging around some more, he found a couple of throwing knives under a large bag. He held them up, then threw them both into the door without really thinking. It took a second for him to realize what he'd just done, and when he did he quickly yanked the knives out and tossed them back into the closet.

He wandered into the bathroom next. He found five million different hair gells that for some reason disgusted him.

"How many hair gells do you need?" He muttered out loud, then quickly glanced around to make sure no one had heard him.

He picked up a can off the side of the bath tub and saw it was shaving cream. He popped off the top and squirted an S onto the sink. He grinned, then turned around and made a bigger one on the wall. Glancing around once more to make sure he was still alone, he squirted an A onto the wall, then put a large / near it and put S on the other side.

Angel walked quietly upstairs and heard the hiss of a can being used. He turned the corner and saw Spike in the bathroom, big grin on his face, squirting letters onto the wall with shaving cream.

Angel burst out laughing.

Spike jumped, dropped the can and saw Master was standing outside, but he didn't look mad, rather he was...laughing. Spike smiled nervously, hoping this meant he wasn't in trouble.

"Spike, you are a character," Angel chuckled, walking into the bathroom. He saw the A/S on the wall and wondered what Spike had been thinking when he made it. "You are cleaning this up, you realize?"

"Yes," Spike said, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, I was..."

"No no no, I'm not mad at you," Angel smiled. "You can mess up the bathroom as much as you want, you just have to clean it up when you're done. You can keep on making letters if you want."

Spike's smile was so bright it made Angel want to cry. His Spike wouldn't be smiling over the fact that he could mess up a bathroom. He'd be doing it anyway, no matter what Angel said. And he wouldn't have cleaned it up.

"Alright, I'm going to bed. Whenever you're tired you can come on in," Angel told him before turning toward his room.

Twenty minutes later he felt Spike crawl under the blankets and curl up against him. Angel reached out and pulled Spike fully too him. He felt Spike stiffen for just a second, then relax and lay his head on Angel's chest.

"If you're gonna be in here, snuggle," Angel told him.

"Okay," Spike said sleepily, forgetting to say master, but he had a feeling Angel wouldn't mind.

"Night Spike."

"Night Master."

--

A/N: Sometimes I REALLY hate plot bunnies. I really do. lol. please review!